Bunnell city manager's Palm Bay commute raises concerns

Sunday

Dec 18, 2011 at 12:01 AMAug 15, 2012 at 1:36 PM

JULIE MURPHY, Staff writer

BUNNELL -- City commissioners want to keep City Manager Armando Martinez at the helm, with or without law enforcement credentials and despite personal issues that include the foreclosure of his Palm Coast house and a regular commute to Brevard County on the taxpayers' nickel.

"All of us live in (glass) houses," said City Commissioner Daisy Henry. "If it's not one thing it's another, so no one can throw a rock."

Even so, two commissioners are concerned that some of his conduct, particularly the use of a city vehicle and gasoline to commute to and from his home in Palm Bay, is not the best use of taxpayer money.

Martinez, 52, is adamant about keeping his law enforcement credentials, which were put on hold in January because the Florida Constitution forbids anyone from holding two offices, something state officials deemed he was doing by carrying a badge as well as the title of city manager.

Professionally, Martinez has been on the move since retiring as a captain with the City of Miami Police Department in January 2007. Within days after retiring, he became Bunnell's chief of police.

In the 18 months that followed, Martinez had several public run-ins with then-city manager Syd Crosby. Martinez went so far as to quit his job as police chief but returned to that position after Crosby resigned in August 2008. Martinez was named interim city manager by the end of that month and a short time later, the interim tag was removed.

When Martinez accepted the position of city manager in October 2008, he also negotiated $500 per month in hazard pay into his $102,733.60 annual salary on the grounds he would still carry a gun and back up police officers on the street when necessary.

Martinez still collects the hazard pay but no longer is involved in law enforcement. But he's continuing his quest to stay certified with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Within a month of his September announcement to city officials that he had failed in a bid to become Melbourne's police chief, Martinez asked Bunnell City Attorney Sid Nowell whether he could maintain his credentials with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement by becoming a reserve officer elsewhere.

Nowell referred the question to the Attorney General's Office in Tallahassee and is awaiting a response.

Martinez hasn't spoken publicly about his desire to hang on to his law enforcement status, saying only that he wanted an opinion about whether he could serve as a reserve officer.

Martinez said he "wasn't unhappy" when he heard the news that he wouldn't be Melbourne's top cop and added his motivation for applying for the post in the first place was to be closer to his family.

"It was just a family issue I had to deal with," he said to city commissioners at the time. "I think I made my peace with my family and I plan on staying here as long as you want me."

A family man whose wife, adult children and grandchildren live two counties to the south, Martinez told The News-Journal he makes the commute from Palm Bay in Brevard County, more than 200 miles round-trip, nearly every day.

Martinez was driving a city-owned Chevy Impala to and from work until November. Commissioners Elbert Tucker and John Rogers said he's now driving a Corvette but Martinez wouldn't confirm that, saying only that he's now using his own car to drive to and from work.

According to city records, Martinez put 37,000 miles on the Impala between January and September and used 1,481 gallons of gasoline purchased by the city of Bunnell for $4,875.80.

Tucker isn't pleased.

"When I found out (Martinez) was driving to Melbourne every day, I had a chat with him," Tucker said. "I discussed the principle behind driving a taxpayer car ... to conduct city business in and around Bunnell, a trip to Tallahassee on occasion and four miles down the road to his home in Palm Coast."

Tucker was also miffed about the gasoline.

"I was told by (Martinez) that he was paying for the gas out of his pocket," he said.

Commissioner John Rogers said he wouldn't have voted to give Martinez the pay and benefits package he has now, but added those decisions were made before he was elected in March.

"The gasoline, though, that's not the best use of taxpayer money. No," said Rogers.

City Clerk Dan Davis said Martinez now drives his own car to and from work "at his own expense, including gas."

"He switches to his city vehicle while driving around in town, and uses city gas for that," Davis said. "I'd just like to point out that he doesn't have to drive his own vehicle to and from work. He has a commission approved/signed contract that states he can take a city vehicle home using city gas. However, because of employee layoffs and no raises for employees, he has taken it upon himself to slowly give back some of the things in his contract."

Rogers said he also was unaware that the house Martinez bought at 33 Essex Lane in April 2007 for $175,000 -- less than four months after becoming police chief -- is in foreclosure.

The house went into foreclosure in December 2008 after the Deutsche Bank National Trust filed a complaint, two months after Martinez was named city manager. According to court records, the house remains in foreclosure.

Martinez's annual salary is $102,733.60 and a pension through the city of Miami pays him an additional $91,376.16.

"I have investment properties and I am a victim of the same current economic situation affecting many Americans," Martinez said in an email response to questions. "I am helping my children, but I do not believe my personal financial issues nor those of my children have any bearing on my role as city manager."

Vice Mayor Jenny Crain-Brady was also unaware of the foreclosure and is unconcerned that Martinez wants to hang on to his law enforcement credentials. She praised him as "organized" and "professional."

"It was a job that he never had before," she said. "He took it on as a goal to tackle. He has a handle on so many things."

Tucker doesn't like the deal Martinez has been given.

"I was the sole vote against letting him keep his hazardous pay," he said. "I didn't want him to carry a gun as the safety officer, because not only did it cost the taxpayers $6,000 a year salary, it cost an additional $6,000 a year in worker's compensation costs."

Martinez does have some feathers in his cap as city manager. He came up with enough cuts to Bunnell's budget to hold property taxes 10 cents below the rolled-back rate of $7.05 per $1,000 of taxable value, which would have produced the same revenue as its current rate of $6.05 using new assessments of the same properties.

Martinez also came up with the idea of a "Coalition of Flagler Cities" to steer economic development to Flagler's smaller cities. Representatives from Bunnell, Flagler Beach, Beverly Beach and Marineland met in mid-July amid efforts to reorganize Enterprise Flagler before its September dissolution.

"You'd never know that he'd never been a city manager before," Crain-Brady said.